The Spain international centre-back played with the Everton winger at Barcelona.

Pique, a former Manchester United defender, was speaking about how strict the rules are nowadays regarding conduct of the players and about the integration of young players into Spain’s Euro 2016 squad.

“I remember when Gerard Deulofeu went to the first team, and he was going to sit at a dinner, I removed the chair, he fell and I got a scolding. They (Manchester United players) did it to us everyday!”

Pique was on the books of Premier League giants United from 2004 until 2008, but he failed to establish himself in the first team.

The Spaniard is now regarded as one of the best centre-backs in the world and has won a host of trophies with Barcelona.

Deulofeu started his professional club football career at Barcelona, but he struggled to play regularly for the first team and moved to Everton on a permanent contract in the summer of 2015.

The Spain international winger scored two goals and created 34 chances in 26 Premier League appearances for the Merseyside outfit this past season.

Subhankar Mondal

A football journalist based in Wakefield, Subhankar Mondal has previously worked for Goal.com International and Skysports.com, and has had his sports articles published in The Guardian and The Observer. He has also been on the BBC in the past and his name once found its way to the pages of the World Soccer magazine. He was recently cited in a major Louis van Gaal biography.